Thursday, June 14, 2012

fathered

This is the day the Lord has made; we will be glad and rejoice in it! Psalm 118:24

The Holy Spirit has been on the move. Big time.

This past Sunday was quite a day for our family. And for a group of friends we've been walking through life with over the last year. And for our church.

What started as a small group has grown into a thriving ministry called Fathered. And it launched on Sunday after much planning and effort. A team effort. We're fans of team efforts. :)

Emily and Brandon created this amazing display to indicate the children who've been adopted already into families within our group and church.

We're especially fond of this little guy. :)

A map to indicate where around the world these children began their lives.

See that bottom pin on the right? Yep. That represents our James.

A bunch of the Fathered gang.

A bunch of the Fathered kids!

(Notice Jackson and James in the middle...so sweet, right?...)

When I get to Heaven, one of the questions I'm going to ask God is, 'Why do big brothers have to bully their little brothers sometimes?'

Oye.

Fortunately, James can dish it out too -- often with a swat at the face (that one little finger is dangerous!) or a swift kick.

This video is of a scooting race that the kids initiated with James. Is that not the most precious thing to see how inclusive young children are? The others were running up and down our church's concourse and James was doing his scoot as fast as he could, but the kids decided to take it down to his level (literally). The adults were standing around tickled pink. Precious.

As if launching Fathered wasn't enough excitement, our church was having baptisms and dedications that morning. We said the next time they did it we would dedicate James so we got to do it on the same day that our adoption ministry took flight. It was just an awesome day all the way around. We felt God's hand all over us and throughout this community that we do life with at HOPE Church. So grateful for God's abundant grace and blessing.

James startled to puddle when David, our pastor, took James in his arms, but it was so precious to hear David's words about how much God loves James.